Millennial media habits misunderstood: TVB

Adults ages 18 to 24 watch less TV but value it more, according to newly released data from the Television Bureau of Canada.

While adults 18 to 34 spend less time with commercial TV than the rest of the population, new data from the Television Bureau of Canada shows that millennials actually place a higher value on the TV they do watch.

The study of 2,500 Canadians was conducted by Ipsos Reid MediaCT. Among adults 18 to 34, 70% love watching TV shows, 65% miss their shows when the season ends and 64% want to see the latest episodes as soon as they air. When adding the older population, adults over the age of 18 as a group felt slightly less enthusiastic. Only 67% love watching TV shows, 57% miss their shows when the season ends and 58% want to see the latest episodes as soon as they air. More millennials also see television as a way to connect with friends and family, with 29% saying so compared to the 22% average.

A small distinction, but perhaps a valuable one for marketers considering young adults watch less TV than adults on average. Only 39% of millennial media time was spent watching video, compared to 47% on average, while web browsing took up 25% of media time compared to 20% on average.

Millennials spend six hours with media compared to the seven hours adults over 18 in general spend. When polled, 72% of the demo said they watched video “yesterday” averaging about three hours of watching, compared to eight in 10 adults who watched an average of four hours. Of all the time they spent watching commercial TV, adults 18 to 34 spent only 63% with commercial television, compared to 83% on average.

The data come from a larger set of data first presented at TV Day by TVB back in April.